Washington (CNN) - House Speaker John Boehner responded to President Obama's press conference Wednesday saying Republicans in the House will continue to "stand with the American people" while the president ignores the economic realities in the U.S.

Lexington, South Carolina (CNN) - Jon Huntsman's campaign in South Carolina is growing.

The former Utah governor, who is making South Carolina a key part of his Republican nomination strategy, has tapped Republican operative and former Mike Huckabee adviser Adam Piper to be his political director in the state.FULL POST

Chicago (CNN) – I've covered Rahm Emanuel for many years – going back to 1992 when he was a young political aide to then-Governor Bill Clinton who was running for President.

He later joined President Clinton at the White House before heading back to his native Chicago to make some money in the financial investment business. After that, he came back to Washington as a congressman and remained as President Barack Obama's first White House Chief of Staff. But I must say I have never seen him as enthusiastic and excited as he is now as Mayor of Chicago.

Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama called on lawmakers Wednesday to overcome the "selfish" norms of politics and "do their job" in order to strike a deal on raising the federal government's current $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by the start of August.

People shouldn't get "spooked," but "the yellow light is flashing," he warned. "This is urgent."

(CNN) - Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann responded Wednesday to a report by NBC that the mental health clinic run by her husband has collected annual Medicaid payments totaling over $137,000, while she has criticized the program for swelling the "welfare rolls."

"Medicaid is a valuable form of insurance for many Americans and it would be discriminatory not to accept Medicaid as a form of payment," Bachmann spokeswoman Alice Stewart told CNN. "As a state-sponsored counseling service, Bachmann and Associates has a responsibility to provide Medicaid and medical assistance, regardless of a patients financial situation."FULL POST

The Romney campaigned confirmed he will sit down with Senators Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Orrin Hatch of Utah, Mike Lee of Utah, Bob Corker of Tennessee, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Jim Risch of Idaho and Thad Cochran of Mississippi.FULL POST

(CNN) - A federal appeals court in Cincinnati has ruled in favor of the Obama administration and Congress, ruling a key provision in the sweeping health care reform bill passed last year was constitutional.

The "individual mandate" requiring nearly all Americans purchase health insurance by 2014 or face financial penalties - was challenged in federal courts by a large number of individuals and groups, saying people should not be forced to purchase a product like health insurance. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit panel disagreed.FULL POST

(CNN) - President Barack Obama will hold a news conference Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. ET in the East Room of the White House. Follow live updates below. Read the full story on the presser here.

12:49 p.m. ET - @LisaDCNN: OBAMA DEADLINE: He told Congress if no progress on debt talks by end of this wk, "we'll have to cancel things". Like mid-July recess?

12:48 p.m. ET - Obama took 10 multi-layered questions over 66 minutes.
12:47 p.m. ET - @ReincePriebus: “Leaders are going to lead”? If Obama had been leading on fiscal responsibility, he wouldn’t have to raise taxes. http://bit.ly/jlEjse
12:47 p.m. ET - Obama talked about getting letters from regular Americans and they are feeling some desperation. He said we know what to do, educate our kids, invest in infrastructure and we have to control our deficit. These folks want to think their leaders are not playing games. It requires us to get out of short term approach, he said we have to think long term.
12:45 p.m. ET - @AWMooneyCNN: time for the 'i feel your pain' segment - 'these folks are counting on us'FULL POST